Building manufacturing facility with rotatable subassembly areas

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a facility for manufacturing non-roadable buildings. The facility includes an enclosed area having a roof, a plurality of bays for positioning the non-roadable buildings therein, each of the plurality of bays configured to have one non-roadable building positioned therein, a plurality of movable manufacturing areas configured to manufacture elements for manufacturing and a lifting device positioned within the enclosed area and configured to move the elements for manufacturing of the non-roadable building through the facility, including movement of the elements from each of the plurality of movable manufacturing areas to each of the plurality of bays.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to co-pending U.S. patent application Ser.No. 11/431,196 entitled “Building Transport Device” and filed on May 9,2006; Ser. No. 11/620,103 entitled “Device and Method for Transporting aLoad” and filed on Jan. 5, 2007; Ser. No. 11/559,229 entitled “TransportDevice Capable of Adjustment to Maintain Load Planarity” and filed onNov. 13, 2006; Ser. No. 11/620,560 entitled “Method and Apparatus forMobile Stem Wall” and filed on Jan. 5, 2007; and U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 60/887,696, entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FORINTEGRATED INVENTORY AND PLANNING” and filed on Feb. 1, 2007 the entirecontents of each of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

Prefabricated buildings, such as commercial structures and residentialhomes, have become a popular alternative to “built-on-site” buildings.Prefabricated buildings include manufactured buildings, wherein thebuilding is built in a factory setting, and prefabricated buildings,wherein the components of the building are prefabricated and precut in afactory setting. Some facilities are organized in an assembly linefashion to build the individual components for a prefabricated home,such as the panels and the framework. The components are precut at thefactory and shipped via truck to the site of the home for assembly.

However, prefabricated building systems are only able to accommodate asingle design or single model without having to significantly change theassembly line(s), which can be very expensive. Thus, consumers whodesire to invest in prefabricated homes are only provided with a limitednumber of design options set by the manufacturers and lack the abilityto select their own custom, or mixed-model, designs.

Yet another significant drawback is that in order to ship the buildings,the buildings must be split into appropriate sized “modules” to fit onthe back of a truck and fit within the typical dimensions of a highwaylane. In order to create appropriate sized modules for shipping, abuilding is typically “forward engineered” in parts, wherein each partis designed to fit within the maximum allowable shipping limits, orenvelope. In other words, consideration of the size and the dimensionsof the shipping modules may override those of the consumer's desires inthe design of the building. This may place undesirable limitations onthe design of the building.

SUMMARY

In one embodiment, the present invention relates to a facility formanufacturing non-roadable buildings. The facility includes an enclosedarea having a roof, a plurality of bays for positioning the non-roadablebuildings therein, each of the plurality of bays configured to have onenon-roadable building positioned therein, a plurality of movablemanufacturing areas configured to manufacture elements for manufacturingand a lifting means positioned within the enclosed area and configuredto move the elements for manufacturing of the non-roadable buildingthrough the facility, including movement of the elements from each ofthe plurality of movable manufacturing areas to each of the plurality ofbays.

In another embodiment, the present invention relates to a method ofmanufacturing non-roadable buildings. The method includes the steps ofproviding an enclosed area having a roof, the enclosed area having aplurality or bays for positioning the non-roadable buildings therein,each of the plurality of bays configured to have one non-roadablebuilding positioned therein, moving a plurality of manufacturing areasrelative to the plurality of bays within the enclosed area such thateach of the plurality of manufacturing areas is positioned adjacent eachof the plurality of bays for a predetermined period of time, andassembling the non-roadable buildings, such that each of thenon-roadable buildings is substantially complete, using lifting meanspositioned within the enclosed area to move elements for manufacturingof the non-roadable building through the enclosed area, includingmovement of the elements from each of the manufacturing area to each ofthe plurality of bays.

In another embodiment, the present invention relates to an enclosedfacility for manufacturing movable standard sized dwellings. Thefacility includes a plurality of bays configured to have one movablestandard sized dwelling manufactured and positioned therein, a pluralityof movable subassembly areas, each of the subassembly areas configuredto have a portion of the standard sized dwelling built therein andconfigured to move relative to the plurality of bays, lifting means tolift and move each of the plurality of subassembly areas to each of theplurality of bays, and an exit proximate each of the plurality of baysconfigured to allow the standard sized dwelling to exit each bay.

Additional features and advantages are described herein, and will beapparent from, the following Detailed Description and the figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the interior of a facility formanufacturing buildings according to one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the exterior of the facility ofFIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is an interior elevational view of a subassembly in the facilityshown in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, the present invention relates to facility10 for manufacturing buildings. The facility 10 includes a plurality ofbays 12, a central area 14, which can include a plurality of subassemblyareas 16 a-f and lifting or hoisting device 18 to transport thesubassemblies to each of the bays 12. Preferably, the facility can bepositioned proximate to a housing or building development. This allows,if desired, a substantially complete non-roadable home or building toavoid public roadways and travel mainly on private or unrestrictedroadways. Thus, the building can be designed such that it is notrequired to meet state roadway restrictions and can have any suitablewidth, height or weight. However, it is noted that the non-roadablebuildings can be transported along public roads for limited, authorizedand/or monitored distances and that the facility can be positioned anysuitable distance or proximity to a housing or building development.

As shown in FIG. 1, the facility 10 is preferably an enclosed orpartially enclosed building that can have environmental controls. Thefacility can be generally circular with the bays on the perimeter andthe subassembly area in the center area; however, these two areas can bereversed and the bays can be in the center area if desired.Additionally, the facility can have a roof, as in many conventionalfacilities or it can have no roof, a partial roof or as many or as fewsides as desired and/or no or partial walls on a side. Additionally, thefacility can be divided into multiple facilities or staging areas eitherwithin or without facility 10. The facility 10 can be made from anysuitable materials, such as metal, wood, fabric or any other materialthat would allow the workers and supplies located inside the facility tobe protected from any one or more of the sun, wind, precipitation, otherenvironmental elements, theft and/or any other undesirable consequences.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the facility has a plurality of building bays12. The bays are each sized and configured to allow at least amulti-storied (or a single storied) building 20 to be built therein.Preferably, each bay is substantially arcuate or wedged shaped or can besquare or rectangular and sized and configured to allow a standard sizedhome to be positioned and/or built therein. For example, each bay isgenerally large enough to allow a building having a 60 foot by 40 footconfiguration and enough room for personnel or equipment to move aroundeach side of the home. Although the bays are designed for any suitablebuilding, one embodiment includes building a standard sized non-roadablehome in each bay. The standard sized homes are generally large singlefamily homes have a square footage of about 1600 ft or larger; however,a standard sized home can be any home that is too large to be placed ona truck and transported over public roads. However, each bay can be anysuitable size and/or configuration and have any suitable size orconfiguration of buildings positioned and/or built therein, includingvarious sized bays to accommodate various sized and configuredbuildings.

Each bay preferably has an exit door 22 or area that allows the buildingto be picked-up and transported away from the facility. The exit doorsor areas 22 of the bay can have any type of suitable door or no door.For example, the door can be a garage style door that can be closed tomaintain a suitable or desired interior climate and/or protect thebuilding from outside or exterior weather, theft or other undesirableelements. Furthermore, the exit can be an opening with no door orcovering sized and configured to allow the buildings to exittherethrough.

Each bay is generally separated by a wall or partition 24. The walls orpartition 24 preferably extends partially through the facility and donot contact or abut the ceiling of the facility; however, wall 24 canextend to any suitable height, including to the ceiling, thus,completely separating the bays or, if desired, the bays can have nowalls separating them.

Walls 24 can be formed of any suitable material and have any suitablethickness. For example, the walls can be relatively thin just separatingeach building bay or they can be thick enough to house a closet,restroom or other facility.

Each bay 12 can be separated from the central area 14, if desired usingwalls or partitions (not shown). As with the walls 24, the wallsseparating the bay from the central area can be full height, partialheight, thin, thick, have storage or other facilities therein, or byconstructed in any suitable manner and have any suitable size andconfiguration.

As shown in FIG. 3, the facility includes a hoisting device 18 or aplurality of hoisting devices in each of the subassembly areas 16 a-f.Preferably the hoisting device 18 is an overhead hoist that can movelongitudinally through the a specific subassembly area using rails 26and 28; however, if desired, the rails can run in any direction andallow access to entire facility 10 or any portion or portions thereof.The rails can be held overhead by columns, or any other suitablestructure, including but not limited to the internal structure of thefacility and/or specifically designed internal structure. Thisconfiguration of the rails allows the hook 30 to traverse the entiresubassembly and access each of the plurality of bays and/or each of thesubassembly areas. Additionally, the hoist 18 can traverse thesubassemblies laterally using rail 32. Rail 32 preferably spans betweenrails 26 and 28, thus allowing hook 30 to move laterally within or overarea 14 and move between the opposing bay areas.

Furthermore, hook 30 can move up and down relative to rail 32.Preferably, hook 32 can extend to the floor of the facility orsubstantially to rail 32. This allows the hoisting device to pick upmaterial, a desirable structure, element or other device 35 and move itanywhere in the facility. It is noted that the hoisting device can beany suitable hoist or lifting device (e.g., an overhead crane, a gantrycrane, a floor crane and a fork lift or any other suitable device) andcan traverse any suitable area of the facility. Additionally, hoistingdevice can have any suitable configuration or construction, move at anysuitable speed or in any suitable limited or unlimited areas around thefacility.

Preferably, the hoisting device 18 is motorized and in three dimensions.In other words, hook 30 is driven by a motor or a plurality of motorsthat move the hook laterally and longitudinally relative to thesubassembly areas and up and down relative the floor of the facility.The hook can be operated by manual controls and an operator that movesthe hook over or near a desired portion of the building or constructionitem and lowers the hook to pick up the item. The user or operator canthem lift and move the item to the desired area of the facility andlower the item. Furthermore, the hoisting device 18 can be fullyautomated using any suitable computer control system. It is necessaryfor the hoisting device to be motorized. The device can be manuallyoperated if desired.

Central area 14 is generally divided into a plurality of areas 16 a-f.Generally, the each subassembly area is a wedge or slice of the circulararea 14; however, both the circular area and each subassembly area canhave any suitable configuration and each subassembly area can be thesame or substantially the same size as each other subassembly area orthe subassembly areas can have various sizes. Each subassembly area isgenerally designed to build a specific portion of the non-roadablestandard sized building. For example, specific areas can be used tobuild floors, walls, ceilings, foundations, or any other portion of ahouse or building desired. Areas can be specifically used for internalfinishing, such as, plumbing, electrical, drywall, painting, wood trim,etc. There can be any suitable number of subassembly areas desired andsome or all of the areas can have multiple purposes or multiplesubassemblies can perform the same purpose, if desired.

The central area 14 is designed to rotate relative to the bays, as shownby arrow 36 in FIG. 1; however it is noted that the area 14 can rotatein any manner and direction desired. This allows each of the pluralityof areas 16 a-f to move adjacent each of the bays, such that a specificsubassembly can be moved to each respective bay. The central area can bedesigned to moved using any suitable means, such as a central axle, alarge bearing, it can float or be lifted by air, move over grease orother slick material, or any combination thereof or in any othersuitable manner.

By moving the central area and each individual the subassemblies merelyneed to move form the end of each respective central area to each bay,thus reducing travel distance on the hoisting mechanisms.

It is noted that the moving subassemblies do not necessarily need to bepositioned in the central portion of the facility to the building baysand the subassemblies can be designed and configured to move in anydirection and/or in any manner relative to the building bays desired.

Operation

Generally, materials are brought to the facility 10 using a truck orother vehicle, which can enter the facility using one of the using anyof the suitable bay exits or a dedicated exit, is desired. The materialsfor each specific subassembly area are offloaded and the truck orvehicle moves through the facility offloading material until it exitsthe facility 10. There can be a specific area through which the materialtraverse through the facility (e.g., a materials lane) or the materialscan traverse through the facility in any manner or direction suitable.

At each subassembly area 16 a-f, the specific portion or portion of thehouse or building are built. For example, one subassembly area can builda floor assembly, another can build walls and another can build theceilings. Multiple of each portion or subassembly can be built andstored in the specific subassembly area, thus allow the workers toefficiently build subassemblies without each house being built from theground up, as done in conventional stick building. For example, the roofsubassembly area can build multiple roofs and store the roofs in thesubassembly area or other suitable area or even in another area withinor without the facility. Once a house in a bay is ready, a roof can beattached. Thus, multiple roofs can be built before the walls or floorsof the building are built or attached to the building 10.

Preferably, the floor or base of the facility is positioned within thefacility. The base is generally built such that it can withstandmovement from the facility to a predetermined position adjacent thefacility for final location. The base can be formed from concrete, steelwood or any other suitable material. The base is preferably built in thebase subassembly area and once completed moved using the hoisting deviceto an open bay. However, it is noted that the base (or any othersubassembly) can be built in a bay, rather than moved. Additionally, thebase can be built as described in related U.S. patent applicationsdiscussed and incorporated by reference above. Thus allowing a speciallydesigned vehicle to move the building. Please note that it is notnecessary to move the building using a specially designed vehicle or asrecited in the related applications.

Next the first floor wall subassembly area is moved or rotated adjacenta bay that is ready for this subassembly. The subassembly portion canthen be moved from their specific subassembly area using the hoistingdevice to a bay. The walls are then attached to the floor. The walls canbe finished with trim and drywall either in the wall subassembly area,the bay, the predetermined site for the home or in any other suitableplace. The building is then built using the subassemblies untilfinished. The building can be a one, two or more story building and canbe any suitable building structure. Preferably, the building is astandard sized substantially complete non-roadable house, but thebuilding can be any suitable structure.

This procedure is continued, that is, the subassemblies are rotated ormoved adjacent the bay requiring the specific subassembly until the homeis completed or is substantially complete. Please note that althoughpreferable to build the home or building such that it is substantiallycomplete, the home can be moved to different areas to complete, ifdesired.

Once the building is substantially complete, the building is movedthrough the adjacent facility exit. The building can be moved using anyconventional moving means or devices. For example, the house can bemoved using a dolly, a conveyor or any other structure. Once moved outof the facility, the building can be moved to a predetermined finalposition. The building can be moved using any suitable device, such as atruck or other device. One suitable device is a two vehicle transporterdescribed in the U.S. patent applications discussed above, the entirecontents of which have already been incorporated by reference. Generallythis vehicle can have each of its two vehicles straddle the building,engage the building, pick the building up and move the building to thedesired location; however, the building can be designed in any suitablemanner and is not necessarily transported with the two piece vehicle.

If desired, the bays can be sized and configured to allow the two piecevehicle to enter the facility and attach to the building in the bays,thus eliminating the need to have a device to move the building outsideof the bays. This movement would be accomplished by the vehicle itself.

The operation described herein is exemplary and is not meant to limitthe facility, but rather facilitate the understanding of the inventionand the facility can be operated in any manner desired.

It should be understood that various changes and modifications to thepresently preferred embodiments described herein will be apparent tothose skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications can be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present subjectmatter and without diminishing its intended advantages. It is thereforeintended that such changes and modifications be covered by the appendedclaims.

1. A facility for manufacturing non-roadable buildings, comprising anenclosed area having a roof; a plurality of bays for positioning saidnon-roadable buildings therein, each of said plurality of baysconfigured to have one non-roadable building positioned therein; aplurality of movable manufacturing areas configured to manufactureelements for manufacturing; and lifting means positioned within saidenclosed area and configured to move said elements for manufacturing ofthe non-roadable building through said facility, including movement ofsaid elements from each of said plurality of movable manufacturing areasto each of said plurality of bays.
 2. A facility according to claim 1,wherein said plurality of movable manufacturing areas includes at leastthree manufacturing areas arranged in a substantially circularconfiguration.
 3. A facility according to claim 2, wherein each of saidat least three manufacturing areas is immediately adjacent at least oneother of said at least three manufacturing areas and said substantiallycircular configuration is configured to rotate.
 4. A facility accordingto claim 1, wherein each of said plurality of bays is at least partiallyenclosed and separated from each other of said plurality of bays.
 5. Afacility according to claim 1, further comprising an exit positionedadjacent each of said plurality of bays configured to allow saidnon-roadable building positioned therein to pass therethrough when saidnon-roadable building is substantially complete.
 6. A facility accordingto claim 1, wherein said lifting means includes at least one of thefollowing: an overhead crane, a gantry crane, a floor crane and a forklift.
 7. A facility according to claim 1, wherein said plurality ofmovable manufacturing areas is dedicated to building a predeterminedportion of the non-roadable building.
 8. A facility according to claim7, wherein said elements for manufacturing include said predeterminedportion.
 9. A facility according to claim 1, wherein said non-roadablebuildings are at least two stories.
 10. A facility according to claim 1,further comprising a vehicle connection area proximate each said exit,said vehicle connection area configured to allow a multiple piecetransporter access to at least two sides of said building, said multiplepiece transporter being capable of lifting and moving said non-roadablebuilding to a predetermined site.
 11. A method of manufacturingnon-roadable buildings, comprising the steps of providing an enclosedarea having a roof, said enclosed area having a plurality or bays forpositioning said non-roadable buildings therein, each of said pluralityof bays configured to have one non-roadable building positioned therein;moving a plurality of manufacturing areas relative to said plurality ofbays within said enclosed area such that each of said plurality ofmanufacturing areas is positioned adjacent each of said plurality ofbays for a predetermined period of time; and assembling saidnon-roadable buildings, such that each of said non-roadable buildings issubstantially complete, using lifting means positioned within saidenclosed area to move elements for manufacturing of the non-roadablebuilding through said enclosed area, including movement of said elementsfrom each of said manufacturing area to each of said plurality of bays.12. A method according to claim 11, wherein each of said bays is atleast partially enclosed and separated from each other of said pluralityof bays.
 13. A method according to claim 11, further comprising the stepof exiting said enclosed area through a doorway adjacent each of saidplurality of bays configured to allow said substantially completenon-roadable building to pass therethrough.
 14. A method according toclaim 11, wherein said lifting means includes at least one of thefollowing: an overhead crane, a gantry crane, a floor crane and a forklift.
 15. A method according to claim 11, further including the step ofproviding a plurality of subassemblies areas, each subassembly areadedicated to building a predetermined portion of the non-roadablebuilding.
 16. An enclosed facility for manufacturing movable standardsized dwellings, comprising: a plurality of bays configured to have onemovable standard sized dwelling manufactured and positioned therein; aplurality of movable subassembly areas, each of said subassembly areasconfigured to have a portion of the standard sized dwelling builttherein and configured to move relative to said plurality of bays;lifting means to lift and move each of said plurality of subassemblyareas to each of said plurality of bays; and an exit proximate each ofsaid plurality of bays configured to allow the standard sized dwellingto exit each bay.
 17. An enclosed facility according to claim 16,wherein said standard sized dwellings are configured to be moved by amultiple piece transport vehicle, capable of moving said standard sizeddwelling from an area adjacent said exit.
 18. An enclosed facilityaccording to claim 16, wherein each of said bays is at least partiallyseparated from each of said other bays.
 19. A facility according toclaim 16, wherein said plurality of movable subassembly areas includesat least three movable subassembly areas arranged in a substantiallycircular configuration.
 20. A facility according to claim 19, whereineach of said at least three movable subassembly areas is immediatelyadjacent at least one other of said at least three movable subassemblyareas and said substantially circular configuration is configured torotate.